HUDDINGE, Sweden, Oct. 30, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Tripep has identified the active component of GPG Clarification concerning alfaHGA, Tripep's new candidate drug against HIV.
Yesterday, the O-listed biotechnology company, Tripep AB (publ), made an announcement concerning alfaHGA, a completely new candidate drug against HIV. In order to avoid any misunderstanding, Tripep's Management and Board understand that clarification of alfaHGA can be desirable.
Earlier, Tripep was able to demonstrate that the previous candidate drug, GPG was a so called pro-drug, i.e., it first needs to be converted to an active substance in the blood. However, Tripep was not aware of the structure of the substance GPG was converted to, and therefore named it MetaboliteX. Conversion to MetaboliteX did not take place in the blood of humans, but did do so in, for example, calf blood, which is normally added in test tube trials. This was the reason why GPG only functioned in test tube trials, with the addition of calf blood, but not in trials using only the blood of humans. During the past year, Tripep has worked intensively to identify MetaboliteX, as this substance does not need to be converted to inhibit HIV, and thus also functions in the blood of humans.
Tripep has now succeeded in determining the chemical structure of MetaboliteX and in producing a chemical synthetic method (production method) for the substance. It is a small molecule, and since it is no longer an unidentified substance it is now named alfaHGA. It is a previously completely unknown substance for inhibiting HIV/AIDS. It has, moreover, a mechanism of action that is completely different from the drugs on the market at present, and from all the agents that, to the knowledge of Tripep, are being tested on humans. This means that the agent also is effective on those who have developed resistance against existing HIV inhibiting drugs.
"This is the fruit of long-term, hard, and consistent work," commented the company's Head of Research, Professor Anders Vahlne.
For more information, please contact: Anders Vahlne, Head of Research, Tripep AB Tel: +46 8-5858 1313 mobile phone: +46 0709-28 05 28 E-mail: anders.vahlne@labmed.ki.se
Tripep is a biotechnology research company that develops and commercialises candidate drugs based on patented technologies. Its main focuses are: research and development of an HIV-inhibiting drug, preclinical research focusing on the development of therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines against HIV and Hepatitis C, and the RAS (R) technology platform.
For more details of the company's technologies, please refer to the company's web site at www.tripep.se
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